North Mankato man accused of sexually assaulting student at Mankato West

A North Mankato man is accused of sexually assaulting a minor earlier this month at Mankato West High School. 

Abdirahman Jama Samatara, 18, was charged with gross misdemeanor counts of 5th-degree criminal sexual conduct and indecent exposure/lewdness in Blue Earth County Court. 

According to a criminal complaint, Samatara left a classroom and waited outside in the hall for a minor female who had left the same classroom to go to the bathroom.

Court documents say that when the girl returned, Samatara grabbed her pelvic area and tried to pull her close to him, thrusting his clothed genitals into her backside in a sexual manner.

The girl reported the incident to her mother, who told police her daughter was “too shook up” to return to school after the incident.

The school’s surveillance system corroborated the girl’s account, according to the complaint.